Spectrum
by skyfire146
Summary: When Lyra starts her own investigation into the disappearance of Leaf, she may just uncover something that has long been hidden- information that may become crucial when all the regions come under attack. Focuses on Johto, but will eventually encompass all the regions. Lance/Lyra main pairing, but many others included.
1. The Calm

**Hey, guys! So… This is my newest fanfic and it's one that I've had a lot of fun planning. Basically, I wanted to include all the regions into one story, so, eventually, this will expand to discuss (hopefully) every main character in the games. Really, I was just wondering, how can I fit all of my hunky men into one story? However, it focuses mainly on Johto (it's my favorite!). Main pairing is Lance/Lyra, but, believe me, there will be plenty more included. I plan on having fun with this one. I'm not going to mention any more because I wouldn't want to give things away! ;)**

**These chapters are a bit longer than my usual stuff, which makes me happy, and I have a few saved up, so updates should be pretty quick (at least in the beginning).**

**So… Yeah. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon in any way. If I did, every male character who has fangirls would fear me. I enjoy glomping. :D**

* * *

**Chapter 1- The Calm**

"Lyra?"

The dragon master walked into the Johto champion's kitchen with a questioning look only to find the room empty. He paused, gathering his thoughts and trying to process where the young women could be.

"Lance, in here!"

Further investigation found the youngest ever Johto champion seated in her study, pouring over old newspaper clippings. At twenty years old now, she had long since abandoned the pigtails and overalls of her journey. Johto's sweetheart had grown up and Lance was the first one to admit it. Her chesnut hair was now found most commonly in a braid with her trademark hat, although for now it was resting on the desk. Today, she happened to be wearing jean shorts and a form-fitting navy t-shirt, opting for more casual wear as she always did. Four years had passed since she had become Champion and although her twenty made Lance (and his 27) feel old, he no longer felt any more mature. In fact, he was sure that Lyra would insist that he was much less mature.

"Well, don't you look spiffy," Lyra commented upon seeing her friend dressed in his full attire. "Cape and all. Did you come from a meeting or something?"

Lance crossed his arms, leaning against the doorframe. "Ly, what are you doing? I thought we were all going to have dinner. Silver and Ethan are already on their way and you said you were cooking." After a pause for thought, he proceeded to answer her earlier question. "And yes. I was on Champion duty and was too lazy to change, if you must know."

The girl grinned, glancing up from her reading. "Well, aren't you cool? And… Eh, I got time."

The dragon master nodded at the clock. "They're due in five minutes. What are you planning on making?"

Lyra kept that silly grin on her face. "Oh. Does that need to be planned beforehand?"

"Lyra! What have you been doing all day?"

"Oh, calm down, Lance," she laughed, lighting up the room as she always did. "I already talked to both of them. We're ordering in Chinese food. I just kind of assumed you were okay with that."

"Oh," he took a seat on the couch, making himself comfortable. "Well, then. That sounds good. Well… What have you actually been doing all day?"

"Oh, Lance, it's been a great day!" She got up immediately, grabbing the old newpaper clippings that had been resting on her desk. "I went to the League library and I found these articles. It was more information on the Pallet Town trio that I've been looking into-"

"Lyra," Lance shook his head, but took the articles from her nonetheless to look over them. "You're still looking into that?"

"Yes," she answered lightly, resting against the arm of the couch. "You know I find it interesting."

"Just leave things alone, Ly," he put the papers on the coffee table, turning to face her again. "Everyone can tell that they've been through a lot. Blue is the most functioning one and his method of dealing with life is to be a total jerk."

"From what I've gathered, he was a jerk before all that happened as well-" Lyra cut in, making a point.

"Fine," Lance conceded. "You have a point. But, honestly, I'd leave it alone. There's nothing to find."

"But what if Leaf is still out there?" She asked imploringly, crossing her arms. "No one knows what happened to her and no one will talk about it. I want to talk about it. She's an amazing trainer and she deserves to be talked about."

She had this bit between her teeth now and Lance knew that he would get nowhere talking to her about it. She was so stubborn sometimes. "Okay, fine. Just don't involve Red or Blue in this. They've already been through it- let's not make them go through it again."

"This is purely _my_ investigation, Lance. I promise."

"Okay," he answered, "Still. Just a piece of advice. I advise that you-"

His words were interrupted by the doorbell.

"Well," Lyra smiled, making for the door. "That's either the food or the boys, so let's see which."

"Ethan and Silver can't be that fast. They disagree too much," the dragon master muttered wryly, but Lyra was already out of ear range. He busied himself with putting away the newspaper clippings for Lyra, reflecting on the elements of life now that Lyra, Silver, and Ethan had come into his life. He had never felt bad when Lyra had defeated him those four years ago; it wasn't possible with the kind of person that Lyra was (it had been the same when Red had taken the title, although Lance had berated himself for weeks after losing to the other Pallet kid, Blue- smarmy bastard). Besides, Lance was still Champion of Kanto, a title that he bore with pride, and with his job as a G-man still demanding his time, he was kept busy. He couldn't imagine life anywhere else. The League Building and its inhabitant had become his home now.

And it wasn't just him that felt like the League building was his home. Silver came and went and, strangely, he seemed to visit quite often. Lance had become his surrogate mentor in a way (at least, as much of a mentor as Silver would ever allow) and they sparred frequently. Silver also kept challenging Lyra, but their battles never seemed to have a clear winner. Lance would always find their frequent bouts dissolved into an argument (which consisted of Lyra's insistent persuasion and Silver's fierce yelling) that could not be resolved and resulted in both sides giving up on the match altogether. Silver entered every tournament around, though, and destroyed his opponents, gaining a reputation throughout all the regions. Every time anyone asked him why he was still hanging around here, he claimed that it was so he could defeat Lyra any time he wanted, but the rest of them knew better. Silver had finally found a niche in the world- one where he could still beat up whoever he wanted to and have somewhere to come back to.

And Ethan was always a constant. Although he was working hard to become a professor under Professor Elm, he visited Indigo Plateau almost three times a week and never was out-of-touch for long. This was their base, their foundation, and they'd carved out quite a life for themselves. It was too perfect, Lance ruminated, closing her desk drawer. He didn't want to lose it, not when he had such a good thing in his life.

Lyra reappeared in the door, motioning to him. "It's the food. C'mon and get some before Ethan and Silver come and take all the good stuff."

He complied, following her. "Really? We're starting without them?"

"Dude, they're officially two minutes late as of now," Lyra looked at him seriously. "I'm not waiting any longer."

The dragon master whistled. "Low blow, even for you, Miss Kotone."

She grinned cheekily. "Of course. How do you think I became champion?"

"Please. You won that fair and square."

"No way. How could little old _me_ beat a big old dragon master like you, Lance?"

"Okay, now your humility is making me look bad."

"Me make you look bad? Never."

"I'd make you Dragonite food if it wasn't for the fact that you're champion."

"And that Ryo is one big marshmellow."

"Just go get some plates for us, Ly."

"Okay!"

The evening was off to a good start.

* * *

"Really? You already started?"

As the two boys finally tramped in, the look on the face of one of them was one of utter disappointment and distress.

"You snooze, you lose, Ethan," Lyra grinned, motioning for her childhood friend to pull up a chair next to her. "Don't worry. I made sure Lance didn't eat ALL the sweet and sour chicken."

"And I was eyeing it," the red-headed champion added, leaning in to grab a dumpling.

"Well, if the idiot over here wasn't _so _adamant about taking the long way, maybe we actually would've gotten here on time for a change," the other boy added, his long red hair giving him away as Lyra's longtime rival.

"There was a swarm of wild Yanma I wanted to check out," Ethan added enthusiastically, moving a seat on the side of Lyra opposite Lance. "They were great, Ly. Even better than you had described."

She smiled at Ethan's energy. "It's something you have to see in person." Turning to her rival, she laughed when she saw his disgruntled face. "Aw, Silver, don't be such a pout. Your face is gonna stay that way if you're not careful." She glanced over the ensemble of Chinese food on the table. "Dumpling?"

Silver sighed, looking defeated, but pulled up a chair nonetheless.

Both of the latecomers dug into the food with gusto and it took a few minutes before a normal table conversation could be had.

"Why aren't you gone yet?" Silver started the conversation, addressing the dragon master who was calmly getting more fried rice. "I heard there's some trouble in one of the outer regions."

Lance shrugged, leaning back in his chair. "Ranger business. We're in close contact with the Union, so, we're monitoring the situation. But we won't get involved unless they ask."

"What's going on?" Lyra asked, her interest piqued.

"Some kind of crime syndicate is stirring up trouble in Almia," Lance explained, pausing in his eating to explain. "That's ranger territory, so we let them deal with it."

"So are you going to have to go there or not?" The girl pressed, face concerned.

"I doubt it," he answered. "It's far and not on our radar all that much."

"Rangers are pansies anyway," Silver muttered.

"You might regret saying that in the future when a ranger kicks your ass," Ethan pointed out through a mouthful of teriyaki chicken.

"Yeah, thanks for the warning, moron," the red-head retorted condescendingly.

"I hate it when you use that tone, you jerk," the professor-in-training frowned at Silver, chewing angrily now. "You think you're better than everyone else."

"Well… I'd say he mostly just thinks he's better than you," Lyra put in, even while Lance was giving her a warning glare.

This culminated in a full-fledged (one-sided) yelling match on Ethan's part, while Silver just rolled his eyes and harrumphed a few times, deviating from this sanctimonious mood only to call him names every once in a while. "Really, Ly?" Lance gave her a look. "Did you really have to start this?"

The Johto champion giggled. "I just have too much fun."

At that moment, the dragon master's phone went off, vibrating in his pocket, and he excused himself from the table while Lyra decided she probably should attempt to break up this Silver and Ethan argument. Only after a few more rounds of insults was she finally successful and the table resumed their peaceful eating.

"Lyra!" Ethan suddenly exclaimed, obviously having remembered something important. "I forgot to tell you earlier! Next week, Professor Elm is headed out on a nine-month-long research trip and he's putting me in charge of the lab while he's gone. Isn't that awesome?"

The Johto champion grinned broadly. "Really? No way! Ethan, that's awesome! I'm so proud of you. In fact, with that announcement, let's do fortune cookies. I'll bet yours will be a good omen for your new responsibilities." She found the pile of them at the bottom of the paper bag and picked up the first one. Holding it close to her ear as if she was listening for something, she paused, and then finally nodded. "Silver, this one is for you."

"Do you really insist on going through this preposterous exercise?" The red-head muttered, albeit accepting his cookie.

"Don't open it yet, Silver. You know the rules."

The look on her rival's face just made all this more worthwhile. "And… this one is for Ethan."

"Awesome!" The boy beamed, accepting his cookie.

"This one…" Lyra paused, looking concerned. "Is for Lance, but we'll have to wait until he gets back-"

The door opened at that moment and said missing person took their seat again. "Sorry, I'm back. And ready for fortune cookie wisdom."

"Here's yours," Lyra handed the aforementioned fortune cookie to Lance and took the last one for herself, obviously checking to make sure it was indeed hers before claiming it. "And… Now we can all open them."

The sound of plastic ripping ensued and each person cracked open their fortune cookie for the slip of paper inside. Lyra then pointed to Silver first. "Silver. You first."

After much cajoling and prodding, Silver finally gave in, although very, very reluctantly and with the promise that he could go home without anyone bothering him after this. So, in the most monotone voice possible, he proceeded to read his fortune, "If you want the rainbow, you must put up with the rain."

"Aw… Silver. How cute," Lyra cut in immediately, grinning deviously. "See? If you want to hang out with us, then you have to put up with this unpleasantness sometimes."

"But I don't want to hang out with you guys," Silver muttered under his breath, which was ignored by a happy Lyra.

"Ethan. You next."

The dark-haired boy happily read his, being the only one that enthusiastically went along with Lyra's wishes. "Trust your heart. The universe is guiding your life."

"See, Ethan!" Lyra exclaimed. "That means that things will go great."

The boy nodded, tucking the slip of paper in his pocket.

Lyra turned her attention to the man sitting next to her now. "Lance, your turn."

The dragon master cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable. "Ah, I'd rather not share."

The champion got a mischievous glint in her eye. "Why not?"

"No reason."

"Give it up, dragon boy."

"Nah. I'd really rather not."

"C'mon, please?"

"Nope."

"Oh, you got a love one, didn't you?" The girl asked, grinning at him. "That's why you don't want to share. Something like, 'A secret admirer will send you flowers' or something like that. Too bad you have, like, a thousand fangirls anyway, so of course you have secret admirers."

"It's nothing of the sort," the man answered curtly, evading Lyra's reach.

"I _will _get it," she announced determinedly.

Lance stood up out of his chair. "I'm going to go to the bathroom."

"Oh, no you don't! Get back here, Lance!"

Unread on the table was the girl's own fortune. _Do not seek so much to find the answer as to understand the question better._

* * *

Minutes later, with Lance having barricaded himself in the bathroom, Lyra sat down next the locked door, exhausted.

"Hey, Lance?"

"Yeah."

"Who were you talking to on the phone?"

"Steven. I'm leaving for Hoenn tonight."

Her mouth slanted in unhappiness. "I thought as much."

"With any luck, I'll be back by the end of the week though. You'll just have to train by yourself until then."

"Hm, I don't think I'll stick around the League while you're gone. I have something I want to do."

The alarm was evident in the dragon master's voice and she could just picture the face he was making right now. "Where are you going to go?"

"I want to visit Pallet Town. See what I can find out about these kids' backgrounds. Maybe it'll help with my info gathering."

There was a pause. Lyra could tell that he was choosing carefully what to say next.

"Just wait until I get back. I'll go with you."

"I don't want to wait. I'll ask Silver to go with me if you don't think I should go alone."

"Really? Silver is your solution?"

"Yes."

"You know I don't doubt your skills, Lyra. I know you can handle yourself. It's just that things are getting worse out there. All the information coming in suggests something bigger than either of us can handle. Be careful."

"You be careful." She shot back, gaze going to the door that separated them. "Recon with Steven Stone is never a walk in the park. You two always get into trouble."

She could just picture the grin that came to his face. "True. We nearly gave you a heart attack that last time."

"You had disappeared off the map. Don't mess Kyogre and Groudon like that again, no matter what Steven may have ideas about. You guys may be best friends and you know I think he's a great guy, but last time was a little too extreme."

"It was just a test run of a little theory of Steven's," Lance retorted. "And I told you. We learned our lesson."

"Well, I'm going to go to Pallet Town with Silver. The League can hold any challengers for a day or two. Only a few in the last year have gotten up that far anyway. Karen's been destroying the few who do come through with that Houndoom of hers."

"She's a power player all right. Make sure to keep her on your side."

"Don't worry, champ," Lyra grinned. "I plan to."

A moment hung in the air in which neither of them spoke, simply relaxing in the moment. "Hey… Ly? Can I come out now?"

She sighed. "I guess so. And I won't make you read your fortune." She moved to the side and the door opened to reveal a sheepish dragon tamer. Lyra cracked a smile. "I don't think I've ever seen a guy in a cape run away so fast."

He shrugged. "You're scary when you're like that."

"Hm. I'll take your word for it."

* * *

She still had to ask Silver to come with to Pallet Town before the night ended, now that she had come up with this wonderful idea to refute Lance's arguments. How was she going to convince Silver, the great dud, to go on a trip with her?

And, so, when everyone was leaving, she pulled Silver to the side.

"Er… Silver. I have a favor to ask."

He looked disinterested. "Eh. I don't really like you, so, no."

All of a sudden, she was fed up and decided that the only way she was going to get anywhere was to get tough. Besides, Silver was the guy that existed to be coerced into doing things that he really didn't want to do because it was just too much fun for the one doing the coercing. "Silver. You're coming with me to Kanto for a little trip."

"Really?" His response was one of surprise, but also a distant one. "And… What makes you think I'm going to do that?"

"Cause if not, I'm going to let a few things slip about that girl you met last year," she answered casually, examining her fingernails objectively.

Silver's face immediately turned dark. "You wouldn't."

"Oh, I would," the champion retorted, smiling innocently. "You'll be ready by noon tomorrow then? I just have to alert the League that I'm leaving."

She took his glare as a yes.

"What do you want in Kanto?"

She faced him after starting to walk away. "I'm going to Pallet Town."

And that explained everything. Anyone going to Pallet Town could only be looking into one thing. The boy rolled his eyes.

"You're wasting your time."

"Maybe so," she answered, turning away from her to let her gaze settle on the darkness outside. "Maybe I am. But why don't we find out?"

"You're really going to insist on this?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Red was my hero when I started my journey. Leaf was who I wanted to be. Blue was who I wanted to marry. They once were the stars of Kanto. Now they're only legends and I want to know why."

"Some stories don't follow the laws of reason, though. And some don't go where you want them to."

"I know," she knew that Silver was at least listening to her now. He was at least going to be of some help. "But I'd like to know anyway."

"Just don't be surprised when you're disappointed."

The champion made a face. "You sound like Lance."

Silver spat in disgust, as if suddenly remembering himself. "Kotone. Don't ever compare me to that bleeding heart."

"Silver," she laughed, flicking him a side glance with a devious smile. "You're not the heartless bastard that you were four years ago, no matter how hard you try to be." He used to be so angry at her, Lyra remembered. He still had that asshole attitude, but the bitterness wasn't as strong. She wondered what had happened to heal that, but she just assumed it was time. But she would never get him to admit that he'd finally found a way to be happy. Deep down, Silver was Silver and there was nothing anyone could do to change that.

Silver's face turned to that of irritation and anger. "Shut up, Kotone. What do you know about me anyway?"

Lyra was unaffected by his retort. She grinned, shooing him out the door. "See you tomorrow, Silver!"

He scowled, resolving to make her regret bringing him along and storing insults for later.

But, for now, he went home.

* * *

Once everyone left to go home (Lance only to go down the corridor to his quarters within the League Building), the Johto Champion went about getting ready for bed. Putting on pajama pants and a shirt a few sizes too big for her (comfort always came first), she collapsed on her bed for a few seconds, then finally sat back up with her legs crossed in from of her. Her braid from earlier was half-falling out by now and her eyes blinked blearily, but she surveyed her pokemon that were randomly strewn about the room.

Sasha, her espeon, was curled at the foot of the bed and Lyra absent-mindedly rubbed behind her ears, smiling at the purr she got in response. The cat pokemon was always so aloof until she had her weak spot exploited.

Her pidgeot, Tor (short for Tornado), was nestled in a nest of blankets that always were arranged in the corner of the room. Now that it was night time, the pig-headed flying pokemon was strangely subdued, but she was glad to see it. He literally acted like his namesake when it came to any kind of activity, proving to be most exhausting.

The largest pokemon in the room was Tank, her tyrannitar. He always arranged himself on his back in the space right next to bed. A sweetie at heart, his tail sometimes accidently brushed against Tor's nest in the middle of the night, setting the short-fused bird off and waking Lyra from her sleep to stop a fight (or rather, a pointless battle as Tank ignored a Tor that thought he could somehow get past the tyrannitar's armor with his bare talons).

The only inhabitant that could not fit in the room was her red gyarados, Bellona, and this had long since been remedied by a sliding glass door in her room with a pool directly outside, which allowed the champion's most recognizable pokemon (and the one that Lance regretfully said "he let get away from him") to rest her head right outside the door (which Lyra almost always left open). Happy to be included, the generally clumsy giant pokemon was busy breathing all over-

Jag, who was the Charizard sitting in the corner closest to the sliding glass door. Generally known as the tough and hard-working one, he had been a birthday present from Lance- a pseudo-Dragon type was the best she was allowed from him, apparently. He dealed with Bellona breathing on his in the typical way, which was mostly to ignore it. He took any hardship the same way- with a resolute determination to refuse to acknowledge the problem. _How much he was like his original owner, _the girl thought with a smile.

Which left her starter and best friend, Cav the meganium as the one who took up the other half of her bed. Nicknamed Cav due to his cavalier-like actions, he was the leader of the team and the one who jumped into things first. Right now, however, he was being a big turd as she tried to push him to the side good-naturedly, unsuccessful in her attempt to make a spot for herself on the bed.

But, right now, surrounded by her pokemon, she felt more at home than anywhere else. This was her closest family- the ones she started and ended the day with- and she couldn't image it any other way. She was champion because of them. They gave her her power and she created a home for them. They were so interconnected that they could not be separated and she thought of this more as she snuggled up under the covers, Sasha moving to curl up in the crook of her trainer's legs and Cav shoving his nose in her face.

She grinned, half petting the meganium's head and half pushing the pokemon away . "Okay, guys, get to sleep."

Jag gave fiery snort from one side, while Tank grumbled his response and Tor squawked in his usual, biting fashion.

She pulled to covers up closer to her chin.

No matter what happened, she would never let anything happen to them.

Everything she felt for them now could be felt in the empty silence that followed- these moments that were the calm before the storm- as they all drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**Notes:**

**1) Yes, I googled fortune cookie messages. There are so many good ones out there. :D**

**2) I never really loved third generation until just recently when I looked at Steven Stone again. Yes, I have found yet another animated, nonexistent man that I can pledge to one day marry. So he will be much included in this story. Included much. I don't know. Grammar is tricky.**

**3) Lyra has a stacked team. I acknowledge this and admit that I am jealous. I WANT A CHARIZARD IN REAL LIFE!**

**4) I love Lance. He rocks the cape look. Yet, I do wonder people would take him seriously in real life… I'd probably just giggle.**

**5) One of the reasons I love Gold/Silver/Crystal is the part where you can go into Kanto and the whole place is different because it's a sequel. It's such amazing fanfiction material! Why is Red just chilling at Mt. Silver? Why is Blue so bitter when you have to go talk to him on Cinnabar Island? Oh, the drama! And then I figured I'd add Leaf in too. So... That's the beginning intrigue of this story.**

**6) Also, I'm open to a beta, if anyone's volunteering. I have a bad habit of not thoroughly re-reading my working and noticing that some of my sentences are just structured terribly. It would be very much appreciated. **

**And… Thanks for reading! Don't forget to review!**


	2. The Understanding

**Hey guys! Here's chapter two! So prompt of me too... I like saving chapters up. :D **

**Odile: Thanks for the review! And so true about Steven Stone. I started a new Ruby version just so I could fangirl every time I interacted with him (which is less often than I would like). *heartfelt sigh* **

**So... Yes. More notes at the bottom. **

* * *

There was a reason Silver didn't like traveling with Lyra Kotone and that reason was most likely due to her overwhelming happiness.

Arceus, he despised happiness.

"Oh, stop crying, Silv. You'll have fun. I promise."

The angry red-head kicked at a rock and only ended up scuffing his foot. "Seriously, Kotone. Why must you always use nicknames?"

"What? You don't like my nicknames?"

"No. I think they're stupid."

"Silver, you're normally so positive and happy to be alive. I would think that you would love it."

"Hn."

"Remember. This is the only way to combat your overpowering cynicism."

The two rivals arrived in Pallet Town in their usual style, arguing the entire way (Silver with his grumpiness and Lyra with her cheeriness). While Lyra was glancing around at the small town around them in interest, Silver had his hands stuffed in his pockets and had a glowering expression on his face, effectively scaring off anyone that thought about approaching them. Fortunately, the red-headed trainer had gotten very good at ignoring Lyra and had not yet reached that point where he want to eat anyone around him in his annoyance (and it just so happened that Professor Oak had sighted them at this point on his way to his lab and there was no more room for conversation or eating).

"Lyra!" The old professor greeted the girl with a smile. "How have you been? It's been a while since I last heard from you, but I'm sure everything has been going great."

The champion nodded agreeably. "Yeah, things have been great. I'm still working on that pokedex. I'm getting Lance to help me with some legendary sightings, so, we'll just have to see."

"Wonderful!" Oak beamed, turning to glance at Silver and his angry expression. "And I recognize you as the young man who does so well in all those televised tournaments. Welcome to Pallet Town! I'm Professor Oak."

Silver shot a look at Lyra, visually telling her that he was in no mood to play nice. "This is Silver," she added in, smiling. Professor Oak seemed to be reaching his hand out to shake hands with Silver when-

Silver walked right on by to the lab.

Lyra shrugged. Some things she just couldn't control.

* * *

"So, what business brings you here to Pallet Town?"

Lyra had settled herself in one of the Professor's chairs when Silver stood a little ways behind her, arms crossed with his back against the wall and apparently not in the mood to chat. Oak sat at his desk, putting away some papers for a moment while hearing Lyra's explanation.

"Actually, professor, I was interested in the history of this town. I've been doing some research on my own and, for such a small town, Pallet certainly has an impressive history."

"Of course, my dear," Professor Oak seemed excited by the very idea. "My family has lived here for generations, even way back to its founding. Of course, most of our roots began in Viridian and our town was the beginning of further exploration to Cinnabar Island and such-"

"Yes, yes," Lyra hastily cut in, not wanting to send the professor off on a tangent that she didn't want. "All that is extremely interesting, but I've read most all about that in my studies. I was more interested in more… contemporary culture of the town."

"Yes, of course," he looked hesitant now and Lyra wondered if she would be able to get anything out of him. He was famous enough and she was sure that he got enough people coming around asking about his grandson and his friends. She would almost feel bad if she wasn't so goshdarn curious. "I suppose you're referring to the main thing that's made our town so famous. Blue, Red, and Leaf."

She needed to fill the pause and somehow convince him that this was important to her. "Sir, it's just, I'm curious because they were my childhood. From around eleven to thirteen, all I heard about was how great they were." She laughed, remembering how foolish she had been at that age. "I wanted to marry your grandson all because of his battling style." Well, that and his good looks, but she decided to leave that part out. "All I'm saying is that I'm interested in the impact that they created on the world. That's all. And I figured the best place to find out is from the people who knew them best- right here in Pallet."

By making the discussion about the impact they had on the world, Lyra was allowing for the professor to talk about them in a historical context. She hoped that this would make it easier than more personal questions. She had to play this at the right angle if she wanted answers.

"Oh," the older man nodded, thinking over the words of the Johto champion. "Yes, I understand. I suppose you wouldn't be able to read about that kind of thing in history books just yet."

"Exactly," Lyra supplied, easing him into it.

"Well, I'll tell you what I know. You are very interested and if you're looking to put all this knowledge to use someday and write a book about it, I suppose you should have the information right," he added and Lyra was silent, not confirming or denying her intent to write a book. She wasn't really planning on it, but was it terrible of her to not tell him that?

"Well, I suppose it started on the day they set out on their journey," Oak remarked, settling himself behind his desk. "It's so funny, looking back on it now that they're such icons of our region. Perhaps I should start even before the day they got their pokemon, because it was even before that that everyone could see who they were going to be. Red was quiet, but he was a natural born leader. He led by example. My grandson, Blue, of course, always liked to be in charge and the two boys clashed almost right away." The professor grinned nostalgically. "Leaf was the only glue that could hold them together. That girl would do anything for those boys. I remember the day my grandson came home when he was six and told me that he would marry her someday. Of course, he quickly outgrew that phase once he reached that certain age, but he always had respect for her, even if he didn't show it."

"The three of them quickly became friends, although Red and Blue always had that competitive edge with each other. When they each set out on their journey, they traveled separately, but ran into each other quite frequently. Blue was always just a little bit ahead of them both and so he reached the Pokemon League first and became champion. I was so proud of him, but I knew the other two were hard on his heels. Leaf challenged him first and it was a long, drawn-out battle. A battle between any two of them was bound to be. She lost though and Red was the one who ended up unseating Blue."

Oak's eyebrows drew down in thought as he went about telling the next part. "But, they were never the same after that. Blue never told me exactly why or what happened, but they were never as close. I suspected that Blue was angry about having Champion taken from him so quickly and Leaf was simply disappointed by her loss to him. Red was the one who came up on top, but I don't think it necessarily made him happy." He paused, gathering his thoughts once again. "And then it happened. Leaf simply disappeared one day. Neither of the boys were told anything or know what happened. Everything was normal, but Leaf was gone. And so Kanto lost one of its legends. Not too long after that, Red resigned from his post as champion and the Johto champion, Lance, was left the responsibility of two regions, at least until you came along, Miss Kotone. Blue didn't want it either, for some reason, and instead got a post as a gym leader. All that work and none of them stayed champion. Funny how life turns out."

"Very funny," Lyra murmured, thoughts turning about that question. Why hadn't Blue wanted the champion post?

"Anyway, Blue doesn't get the chance to visit much anymore," the professor continued. "He's busy enough at his gym."

_Yet he has enough time to go traveling everywhere else besides coming home, _Lyra thought, remembering how she had to track him down at Cinnabar Island for a battle.

"_We can go on winning and losing in pokemon. But if nature so much as twitches, we can lose in a second."_

All of a sudden, that conversation came back to her, the one in which his bitterness had shown itself. A volcano covering the island with soot. Man destroyed by nature. It had all seemed so strange and random at the time, but maybe it had to do with everything that was going on. Maybe Leaf's disappearance wasn't an accident and maybe there was a reason for all of Blue's pessimism.

_Or maybe,_ Lyra mused, _I'm beginning to sound like a conspiracy theorist. _

"I'm sure he is," she nodded anyway, making polite conversation.

"But, that's all I really can tell you, Lyra. Everything else is a blur," he smiled at her warmly and she smiled in return. "A nostalgic old man doesn't always serve as the best source."

"Nonsense, professor," the champion smiled, feeling a flare of affection for the aging professor. "You were so much help. Thank you so much for everything. I can always count on you for hospitality."

"I do my best," the man shrugged. "But I am a bit out of the loop. How is the Pokemon League these days?"

She knew that now was the time for pleasantries and she tried to brush this feeling off. _That girl would do anything for those boys. _Why did that sound so much like Lyra herself? She couldn't shake that thought from her head as she thought about who Blue and Red were today.

This wasn't what Leaf would have wanted. She could understand that much.

But Professor Oak was looking at her expectantly and, so, after a plethora of information that sent her brain spinning, small talk ensued.

* * *

As soon as they excused themselves from the professor's lab and they were on their way, Silver let out a groan. "Arceus damn it. The old coot would not shut up. We're leaving _now_ and you owe me."

"I commend you for your self-control, Silver. I thought you would've ended up throwing a trash can through the window a long time ago. However, we have one more stop to make."

Silver glared at the girl who dared put him through more torture. "Kotone. I will not sit through another moron blabbing without punching them in the face."

She grinned. "Then you'll like this conversation."

"Who are we talking about here?"

"I have a plan. We're gonna make a stop at Viridian before we head back. Let's just hope Blue decides to be in the gym at that point."

Silver narrowed his eyes at her. "That bastard?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because, although Lance kind of told me not to get Red or Blue involved, I think we could get some good information out of him."

"We. Who is this "we" that you speak of?"

"Me and you. Don't you think we make a good team?"

"Arg! Lyra! Stop associating me with people. I. DON'T. LIKE. PEOPLE."

The girl giggled. "Anyway, this is my strategy. I'm gonna go talk to him, but I won't specifically come out with any red-flag questions, you know what I'm saying? I'll get whatever information I can out of him and no one will be the wiser."

The red-head looked doubtful, pausing in his fuming rage. "And you can pull that off?"

"Sure I can. It can't be that hard. I talked Professor Oak into telling me all that stuff."

"Yeah, because it's _so_ hard to get a nostalgic old man to talk about his grandson."

"Well, when you put it like that…"

"You're still gonna do this though, aren't you?"

"Yup."

"… I just want to beat you into the ground."

"Silver, I just want to tell you. You've been such a saint today. You haven't hurt anyone!"

"And it's killing me!"

* * *

They had gotten lucky. Blue was there.

In fact, even Silver agreed that this was lucky indeed. How better to let out his frustrations on this ridiculous day than beat the living crap out of a asshole that he hated anyway? Silver himself may be an asshole, but there was nothing he hated more than people trying to be more of an asshole than he was. Perhaps that was simply because he got competitive easily.

Blue was looking bored at a lack of challengers when they walked in and seemed genuinely surprised to see them, as both of them most likely expected. He wasn't one of Lyra's dear friends and they couldn't pull a "just came to catch up" kind of visit with him. Silver wondered what Lyra had up her sleeve.

"Blue Oak," she greeted the gym leader, using that friendly manner that she so often adopted to put people at ease. Silver reflected that, to assholes, it actually did the opposite. Assholes don't expect people to be so nice to them and so it puts them on edge. He wondered if he should mention that to her some other time, but decided that he'd not. He didn't want her understanding how he worked.

"Lyra Kotone," the legendary trainer answered with a slight smirk. "The almighty champion of Johto. To what do I owe this visit?" Silver could see the infinitesimal narrowing of Lyra's eyes at the slight mocking tone, but she plowed on ahead, this time dropping polite and innocent act.

"Lance Wataru is starting the yearly gym check-up for this year and I was in the area, so I was asked to drop by and pick up your gym records as well as ask you a few questions. If that wouldn't inconvenience you," she added the last part as an afterthought, using the same sardonic tone that he had. Fight fire with fire, apparently.

"Of course I can do that," he replied, getting up to get the records, which apparently were stored in a back room. "How nice of you to help him out."

Only a clenching of the jaw gave away Lyra's irritation, but she stayed composed, as she always did. "I do what I can."

This mincing of words and dancing argument was proving to be quite the entertainment and, as much as Silver wanted to put a fist in Blue's face, Lyra was holding her own. Then again, he should know all about how stubborn she was.

The girl champion turned to him, speaking in a whisper. "Lance has to get on that anyway. I'm actually helping him out, really."

"Yeah," Silver muttered. "I'm sure he'll be thrilled that you're dropping his name in a conversation with a person that, according to him, you're not supposed to be talking to."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Thanks for being helpful."

By that time, Blue had returned with a stapled pile of papers in his hands. "Here are the papers. What questions do you have for me?"

Lyra kept her eyes on him, taking out a pen and preparing herself to write Blue's answers on the back of the files he had given her. She had to look legitimate, but no one said she had to act professional. "First off, for record's sake, how long have you been the leader at this gym?"

"Six years."

"Okay," she muttered, writing down _Blue Oak, Viridian Gym, _and _Six Years. _ "That gives the basis. Now, just for some other questions. Were you ever or are you ever interested in advancing beyond your current station?"

Blue's expression was extremely guarded. "Well, as everyone knows, I was champion for a short time. Until that bastard Red came along," he added affably as an afterthought. "But after that, no. I'm fine where I am. I know I can kick the behinds of most of those Elite Four tight asses anyway." He finished, grinning.

"Having held the title before, is there any particular reason why you wouldn't want to reclaim it?" Lyra questioned and Silver saw that she was reaching a bit. Stretching questions that much could alert him of foul play, but he supposed that she had to dangle her feet in the water at some point. As for him, he'd just jump right in and threaten it out of him, but, he didn't really get much leash, apparently.

The Viridian leader gave her a sharp look. "That's none of your damn business."

"Oookay," the girl answered, funnily enough writing down that answer. "Good response."

Blue's face twitched momentarily, showing his irritation. Silver wondered how long it would be before he broke.

"Now… What's next?" Lyra tapped her chin with her pen, seeming to think through this. She was enjoying herself. She then took him on a few unrelated questions just to throw him off track- basic things about the difficulty of the challengers that he had battled and the state of the gym and things such as that.

Then she started treading in dangerous waters again. "A year ago, there seemed to be an interesting incident noted of a fist fight between you and the former Kanto champion, Red. The League wants to make sure that this incident has been cleared up and that there will be no more damaging news stories such as this. Is the issue resolved?"

Blue gritted his teeth just at Red's name, Silver noted, and assumed that Lyra did too. He simply nodded though, allowing for no other information. Silver could see Lyra becoming more annoyed by Blue's refusal to give any information and he vaguely wondered if she would act rashly because of it. She wasn't the kind to do that, but, at the same time, he wondered if maybe she wanted others to know that she was investigating this situation.

"Was the fight about Leaf?"

Silver's jaw dropped.

The girl had asked the question in the most non-confrontational voice and her eyes were trained on Blue's face, which slowly turned from surprise to pain to anger in a rapid cycle. "What do you know about that?" He demanded, eyes almost panicked. In that, Silver could see a moment of vulnerability that Blue Oak almost never showed and it was at the mention of Leaf. Of course. He almost should have known.

She stayed calm. "Nothing. That's why I'm asking you."

"You're not asking about the gym at all," his eyes narrowed in his realization.

"I just think that you might know something that could explain what happened," she explained quietly. "I want to figure out why Leaf disappeared."

The Viridian gym leader's face suddenly got so impassive and cold that it caused Silver to take a step forward to stand even with Lyra. "You crossed the line, Kotone. Don't pull _shit _like this again with me and don't _ever _think that you can even start to understand the situation."

She didn't flinch. "I just want to help, Blue."

"You can't," he retorted, gaze distracted, but voice still harsh. "There's nothing you can do. All champions have their fall. Don't let this one be yours."

She was almost too preoccupied with her own thoughts to register that last sentence, but once again she caught that note of bitterness. Something more was going on here. "But, you know more than you're saying," she raised her voice as it echoed in the empty gym. "I can tell! Why don't you want to find her?"

Blue seemed to be done talking as he glared at Lyra. "Just get the hell out of my gym before I-"

All of a sudden, Silver seemed to remember that he had a voice as well and could say something instead of standing there with his mouth wide open in astonishment as to how this conversation even got this far. "Shut up, moron. As if you could even do anything to her when she could kick your ass anyway."

And, Silver seemed to have hit a weak spot, as Blue's head snapped over to look at the red-head in confusion, as if he had forgotten he was there. His face quickly turned into a smirk, as he somehow was back in control by the change of subject. "And look who's talking? Do you still battle anymore or do you just follow Kotone around like a-"

Blue never got to finish his statement as Silver's fist connected with his face.

_Finally_, Silver thought to himself and all of a sudden was extremely pleased.

After that, Lyra found that their only choice was to retreat and formulate a new plan. Blue seemed to be recovering and intent on fighting back. "Ah, Silver. I think now would be a good time to make our exit."

However, the red-haired boy seemed to ignore her suggestion and this could not stand. Letting out Cav, she quickly remedied this situation with a vine whip and a quick escape. And so she hurriedly ran with Silver out of the gym and got the heck out of dodge.

"STOP, LYRA! I was just getting started!" He glanced at her, face still flushed with anger. "Did he not piss you off? Seriously!"

The girl shrugged. "I kind of deserved it." She pat her meganium on the head, thanking him for helping her out, and then decided to let him stay out. Silver, however, was still quite worked up.

"And what was even your plan back there? Everything was going fine until you mentioned Leaf, like an idiot, I might add."

"I don't think it went that bad," she nodded, as she started to walk away from the gym. "Better than expected, at least."

Silver was very, very confused. Why did she want Blue pissed at her again?

"Regardless of what Lance said, I'm going to have to get information from Red or Blue if I want to figure this mystery out. Blue doesn't seem like the type to cough it up easily, so I decided that I'd throw the idea out there and see how he took it."

"Well, very badly, in case you were wondering."

"Yup. But I'll let it linger there for a while and come back around to him later. I'm not the kind to work secretively anyway."

"I don't understand your logic."

"He's jaded," she commented, glancing up at the sky thoughtfully. "I want to show him that there are people who still care. People who want to celebrate who the three of them were instead of ignoring what happened . That there's still things that he can contribute to the world. That might take a while, but that's the plan."

"And when did you decide this?"

She shrugged. "Eh, only once I saw how guarded he was about the whole thing. And once I saw his reaction when I threw Leaf's name out there, I knew this is was what I want to do. He obviously cared about her a lot."

Silver felt like gagging.

She glanced at him, grinning. "Of course, you don't understand all that. But I want to do things right. Like Leaf would want. Remember what Professor Oak said about her? That she would do anything for Red and Blue. I think I'm starting to understand what he meant."

Silver honestly had no clue where she was coming from. "You make me sick."

She laughed. "Whatever. You got what you wanted out of it though. Nice punch, by the way. Between you and Lance, I never get the chance to get angry. You guys just do it for me."

Silver shrugged. "It's just habit now."

She smiled wryly. "I guess that's one way of putting it."

* * *

Later that night, Lyra stayed up almost until the sun came up sorting through the puzzle pieces that she had gathered. She sat on her bed with all her pokemon arranged around her, having written down all the pieces on information she had gathered, everything she knew about the legends of Pallet Town. She was reaching for something- slowly, but determinedly. She had realized something today that she had never known before. She had felt a connection. An understanding. She was not that far from understanding this girl from Pallet. There was something familiar about her, something that allowed a girl from a completely different region who had never met such a legend inexplicably feel like she knew her.

_"Leaf was the only glue that could hold them together. She'd do anything for those boys."_

_"And so Kanto lost one of its legends."_

_"All ch ampions have their fall."_

_"But if nature so much as twitches, we can lose in a second."_

And, whether from exhaustion or the true sorrow of the realization that she was slowly coming to, she started to cry. Not big, racking sobs, but silent tears that dropped onto her crossed legs below. She was coming closer and closer to the truth, or, at least, the only one that she could find.

Cav moved restlessly, half asleep, and raised his head inquisitively to shove his nose in her face. She smiled, hugging his head, and snuggled next to him. Sleep still evaded her.

Leaf must have died for those boys.

And, according to the facts before her and the current state of Red and Blue, it had been in vain.

* * *

**1) So, Blue has problems. And I made him angry here, but not without reason. I love me some Blue, so, with some love and nurture, perhaps he will be normal again. :D**

**2) Also, I love the Red, Blue, and Leaf dynamic. Arceus, they are awesome.**

**3) I feel as if I may have rushed the whole Lyra and Leaf connection thing here, but it's something that Lyra really wants to resolve. And there will be more discussion in the next chapter as to why she feels so strongly about it. And the main, overarching plot will show itself soon. :D**

**4) Strangely, I can't really find anything else to say. *shrug* Anyway, next chapter will contain some cute Ethan and Lyra moments as well as mentions of what pairing Ethan shall be in. And some Karen! Cause Karen is badass. Sadly, no Steven Stone til chapter four, but he shall be there and he shall be smexy. **

**All done. Don't forget to review! **


	3. The Breakthrough

**Next chappie! I have nothing to say here (more notes at the bottom), so, enjoy!**

* * *

The next morning was a late one for the Johto champion.

When she first woke up, she had a strange feeling. She connected it to being from when she was asleep and the feeling of a dream surfaced.

_She was flying over the ocean, in a state of panic, when she saw an island appear in the distance. For some reason, there was a prevailing sense of dread. Of panic. Of danger. She knew something bad was going to happen. But, then again, was it happening now or had it already happened?_

She shook her head to clear it, frowning. She couldn't remember anything but that feeling and that scene. It must have been a weird dream, and, try as she could, she couldn't hold onto it. It started to drift away and she was unable to stop it and so she shrugged it off.

She thought about Leaf again and the conclusion that she had kept coming back to, but she quickly shooed it away. She couldn't bear to think about it right now. Only a few days into the investigation and she already had this delusion that she knew what had happened. She had no solid case, only strong intuition. That wasn't enough. Just because all of a sudden she thought she was a detective didn't make her one.

As she prepared for the day, she started to set out her priorities in her head. She wasn't usually a late riser, but she assumed that the night before had just been particularly taxing. Glancing at the clock for a third time since she had woken up (and still sighing every time at how much of the day she had wasted), she decided that today would be a good time to visit Ethan at his lab. Yes, she had just seen him the day before yesterday, but her schedule was free and she had absolutely zero idea on how to proceed next with the Pallet trio. Besides, she wasn't in the mood for analyzing right now.

So, she notified the League where she would be and, when she arrived at Ethan's, managed to have the bad timing of happening upon lunch time for all the inhabitants there.

"Ah! Hold on, Cyndaquil! I'm getting your food right now! And, Stantler, chill, big guy. I know- Phanpy! Out of Chikorita's food!"

The champion paused, surveying the situation with a slight grin on her face. Ethan was being harassed all over the place and he had run back inside (she assumed to get more food), without even seeing her. She used this time to let out her own pokemon, taking advantage of the beautiful day. Sasha apparently agreed with these thoughts on the weather as she promptly jumped up to land on Bellona's lowered head. The two of them proceeded to lazily sunbathe. Tor ruffled his feathers and took to the sky for a bit and Jag joined him, the two of them engaging in a spontaneous aerial game of chicken. Tank immediately glanced around the assorted munching pokemon, apparently scouting out what food he could stealthily steal (as if no one would see a pokemon of his size taking their food). Cav trailed Lyra as she walked to the open door of the lab, peering in to look for Ethan-

Who almost slammed straight into her as he came rushing back out.

"Woah, Ethan," Lyra took a few steps back. "Holy Suicune. That was close."

"Sorry!" Ethan made an apologetic face. "It's the lunchtime rush and there's a whole bunch of pokemon to feed. We just got these three starters for the new trainers starting their journey and other trainers from New Bark wanted us to look after their pokemon a little bit and-"

"Slow down, bud," Lyra laughed. "Where's Professor Elm, anyway?"

"On a field study," the boy explained, setting the plate of food down in front of the cyndaquil. "He'll be back by sunset." He glanced over at Lyra's hovering tyranitar. "Hey, does Tank want something to eat?"

"That would be great," the Johto champion nodded, wincing. "Sorry. It seems like I can never feed him enough."

"Nah, it's no problem."

When Ethan placated the giant pokemon with food a minute later, the two childhood friends could finally get around to talking. Lyra had brought some pizza that she had made herself the night before and they munched on it contentedly, sitting on the grass outside the lab and monitoring the pokemon.

"So, how was your trip?" The assistant professor asked, adjusting his hat before taking a bite of pizza.

"Very successful," she replied happily. "That is, if you don't count the slight altercation with Blue, which I sort of intentionally created." Ethan's quizzical look drew the entire story out of Lyra as she recounted the events of the day before.

"Dang," the boy whistled. "So much happened. And did Silver seriously punch him in the face? I wish I could've been there to see it."

"Did you think there was any chance that Silver wasn't going to punch someone in the face during the whole trip?" Lyra asked, laughing.

"True," the boy nodded. "All this information you picked up on is interesting though. It sounds like something must have happened between the three of them. Blue doesn't sound interested at all in finding Leaf, which makes it seem like this couldn't just be a random disappearance. He and Red must know what happened to her. They just aren't telling."

"And the fact that Blue is the bitterest person ever and Red is practically in a state of isolation?" Lyra added, putting her pizza down on the paper plate that Ethan had provided for a moment. "Something must have happened. And it kills me to think that whatever happened destroyed the three of them. It doesn't matter what happened to Leaf, she wouldn't have wanted this. She wouldn't have wanted them like this."

Ethan looked at her closely. "You're really into this, aren't you?"

She glanced down, realizing that she had unconsciously gathered her hand into a fist. "Yeah. I guess so. But it's not what happened that I care about anymore. That's between them. I just hate the tragedy of the whole situation. It's been five years since she died and I hate that she's been forgotten." She was silent for a moment, thinking of Red and Blue. "And I bet they do too."

"So then… What do you want to do about it?"

Lyra sighed, letting her hand fall into the grass as she picked at it in frustration. "I don't know."

The dark-haired boy glanced at her tentatively. "Well, it sounds to me like you want to fix the situation. Obviously Blue didn't take well to you, so maybe you can try to find out what's wrong with Red first. Maybe you need to find Red."

Red. The mysterious master that Lyra had only beaten one time out of fourteen. She had trekked up that mountain how many times to face his silent expression and was sent packing all but one. And, after all that effort of finally defeating him, he had disappeared afterwards. No one knew where he was now. He intrigued her like no other person ever had. He could be the answer.

"Maybe you're right, Ethan," she said slowly, coming to a realization. She had to think on this more, but at least she was getting an idea of what to do. At least it was some kind of action.

"Ever the helpful one. That's me." The boy grinned.

Lyra had opened her mouth to reply when she heard a gasp behind her. "Woah, is that a red gyarados?"

She turned to see two girls standing in the grass 25 feet away from them with dropped jaws. The older one, who looked about 13 or 14 and ready to start her pokemon journey any day now, was staring at the giant gyarados, while the younger one, who looked to be five or six, was sucking her thumb and doing the same.

"I want that one, Professor Hibiki!" The older one yelled, pointing at the now slightly curious Bellona. The girl then seemed to notice Tank, who was looking up from his food in interest. "And a tyranitar? I want that one too! Wow, my journey's gonna be awesome!"

Lyra gave a grin while Ethan tried to hide one of his own. "Sorry, Molly. Those already have a trainer."

The girl frowned, looking crestfallen. "Aw, man. They're so cool. I'm gonna have pokemon like that someday." Lyra took a closer look at the girl that obviously had been hanging around the lab a lot if Ethan knew her name. She had blonde hair in two braids and a pale blue dress on. She was skinny, but Lyra guessed that most kids at that age in New Bark could be described like that. There were too many outdoor activities to not get in good exercise. It was a part of the culture here.

"When do you start your journey?"

The blonde girl looked at Lyra as if this was the first time she had realized that she was there and her face quickly turned incredulous. "Oh my goodness! How did I not know from the red gyarados? And that's the meganium that you started with! You're Lyra Kotone!"

The champion smiled, patting Cav on the head. "Yeah, that'd be me."

"You're the coolest! I want to battle just like you! The way you show all those guys who's boss- Lance the Dragon Master and all the Elite Four. And you're right from New Bark! I can't wait until I tell everyone at school-" She paused for a moment in her babbling and bent down to the little girl next to her. "Rose, this is Lyra Kotone, the champion of Johto. Remember her? We watch her on the television. She used to live here."

The smaller girl, who was sucking her thumb, nodded shyly and mumbled something around her thumb. Lyra gave this girl a sharper look, thinking that those green eyes of hers somehow looked familiar. Did they have a sibling or something that she knew? She swore that she had seen those eyes somewhere else.

"Hello," she greeted, waving at the little girl, who promptly hid behind her older sister.

"Sorry, she's just shy," The other girl, Molly, explained. "But, could I maybe just look at your pokemon? Just for a minute or two, please? I start my journey next month and I want to look-"

"Yeah, it's fine," Lyra nodded. "That tyranitar over there is Tank. He may look giant, but he's just a big softie that's easily distracted by food. Here. Tank! C'mere."

The tyranitar ambled over, having finished with his food by now. Molly looked at him in awe while Rose glanced over at Cav, who was making silly faces at the smaller girl. Lyra also whistled for Tor and Jag, who came down to be introduced as well. By the time she glanced over at Cav and Rose, the smaller girl was on the meganium's back and the two were horsing around like they had known each other for years. Lyra smiled, but couldn't shake the feeling that something there was something memorable about this little girl that she had happened upon.

Molly looked up from examining a touchy Tor, who was actually behaving very well. "Miss Kotone? Will you promise to battle me when I get better? Please?"

"Of course," the champion answered teasingly, carefully preening Tor's feathers to keep him calm. "But you better get strong before we do battle or you won't stand a chance."

"Don't worry!" The girl yelled, apparently excited out of her mind. Then, a thought so obviously struck her as she glanced toward her younger sister. "Rose! Come on! I have to get you home in time for me to make it back to school before the end of lunch!" She turned back to Lyra and grinned. "Thanks for everything, Miss Kotone. Everyone at school will be so jealous!"

"It was fun. See you later!"

After the girls had gone, Ethan turned to his friend, grinning. "Well, well. Aren't you the famous one? Can I get your autograph, oh Champion of Johto?"

She smiled wryly, turning back to her pizza. "Shut up, Einstein."

* * *

"Hey, Ma!"

The champion practically sauntered into her childhood home, the one that held so many great memories. Her mother was sitting on the couch, watching the news, when she looked up to see her youngest daughter returning for a visit. "Finally," the woman answered in exasperation. "Where have you been, sweetie?"

Returning her mother's warm embrace, Lyra grinned. "Oh, you know, around. I bet the media is tracking my every step anyway."

"That doesn't mean you can't call every once in a while," the mother retorted. As a single parent, Merideth Kotone had not had an easy time of raising Lyra and her sister. She'd rather she'd heard that they were okay every once in a while, but for Lyra and Kris, no news was good news.

"I do a better job than Kris, don't I?" The girl grinned, taking a seat in one of the armchairs in the room.

"Marginally," the other woman replied. "Which, believe me, is no boast. Your sister's practically a gypsy. By the way, have you eaten lunch yet?"

"Yeah," Lyra responded, gaze straying to the TV, which her mother promptly turned off. "With Ethan."

"Ah, I see where your priorities lie."

"No, Ma, it wasn't like that. You know I love you more!"

"You know, I always kind of hoped that you'd marry that boy."

Lyra looked up in surprise. "Who? Ethan?"

"Yes."

The champion made a face. "Mom. Ethan's practically my brother. That would be gross. Besides, it was always Kris that he had a thing for."

"Yes, well, your sister has little interest in men, so, that one was kind of doomed from the start."

"She's just very independent. That's all. And oblivious."

Merideth Kotone shot her daughter a sharp look. "When are you going to get married, anyway?"

"Please, Ma. It's not that easy. It's not as if I can just pick one and say, 'Oh. I'll marry that one.' And I've tried dating. It has not worked out so far."

"Didn't you date that Violet City boy for a while?"

"Yes. Faulkner and I didn't last very long," the girl made a face. "Besides, I'm only 20. Why aren't you bugging Kris about this?"

Her mother gave her a stern look. "Let's face it, Lyra. You're my only hope of grandkids at this point."

"And this is why you and Kris never got along very well."

"Your sister and I just had different ideas."

"Whatever. Let's talk about something besides my and Kris's dating lives."

The older woman adjusted the pillow behind her on the coach. "Before we move on, I really want to know. Who's going to be my son-in-law?"

"Seriously?"

"Yes. If not Ethan, then what about that other boy you hang out with- the long red-haired one with the face like he's angry all the time?"

"Silver?" Lyra asked, making the same face that she had at the suggestion of Ethan. "No, Mom. Silver is not my type."

"He did look a little too angry. Okay, what about the other champion that you work with there? The one that you're always on TV with. I met him after you first became champion."

She raised an eyebrow. "Lance?"

"Yeah."

When Lyra would later reflect, she realized that, for a moment there, the idea did cross her mind. Of course, at one point, he was much too old for her and not someone that she would look at in that kind of way. But, now… Now, she was grown up and she didn't need him to walk her through life and hold her hand. Now, he was no longer a mentor to her. And, thinking of it at this moment, she realized that she did occasionally take the liberty of admiring the set of his shoulders or the curve of his jawline. And, she also realized that she might have taken a little bit too long to respond to her mother than was safe. She was about to open her mouth when-

"Oh, okay. I won't tell anyone then," her mother cut in smugly.

"What? No! Ma, it's not like that, I swear. We're just friends."

"Okay. Sure you are."

"Mom! Stop! I come home to have a nice conversation and you turn it into this, as always."

"I'm just curious! You can't blame me for that."

"Arg!"

* * *

When she left her mother's house, the beautiful day was coming to a close as the sun was sinking down below the horizon. Calling out Tor, she prepared for a chilly ride back as she zipped up the windbreaker she had taken with her.

She paused before getting on her pidgeot for the ride home.

She and Lance were definitely just friends, right? And didn't have any chance of progressing beyond that level?

She rolled her eyes. She was not going to let her mother get to her.

* * *

That evening, she found herself in the League library. Rifling through some old files, she had managed to find some information about Red and his pokemon. She hoped to maybe trip upon some place that Red still had some kind of connection to. She had made a mental list in her head of the potential locations where a former Kanto champion could be hiding and had come up with nothing so far. But the more she thought about what Ethan had said, the more she knew that he was right about all of it. If she could bring Red back, then maybe he and Blue could make up. And if they made up, maybe they could finally be happy. And if they were finally happy, maybe Leaf could rest in peace.

She paused for a moment, biting her lip. She could see why everyone thought she was crazy. For all she espoused about the legendary Pallet Trio, she was beginning to think more and more that this was her own personal crusade. Her inability to explain her feelings to Ethan about it had proved that she wasn't quite sure what she was hoping to accomplish. And as she thought about it more, she realized that maybe it had nothing to do with Leaf and Red and Blue. Maybe it was more about herself- making herself feel like she could just make people happy.

She remembered her mother and sister. She had been the glue in that relationship, had she not? And now? Sometimes, when Silver and Ethan really got at it and Lance went into his "high-and-mighty-if-I-ignore-the-situation-it-can't-hurt-me" mode, she felt like the only one who could appease everyone.

That was who she was. Lyra Kotone- the girl who tried to make everyone happy. And, somehow, she felt like Leaf hadn't been all that different from her.

She blinked, unaware that she was capable of this particular intensity of insight.

"Kotone. What brings you to the League library at this hour?"

But her thoughts were jumbled now and the girl looked up to see the face of the only other female that lived in the building. "Karen," she greeted the older woman, pausing to yawn. "I could ask the same of you."

The dark-type trainer shrugged. "You know me. I'm a night owl myself. But you, Kotone. If what I hear from the grumblings of your red-headed rival is true, you're more of a morning person."

Lyra smiled at the mention of Silver. "You two talk much?"

"A bit. If the twerp could ever be described as having a conversation with anyone. He's a good battler."

"He is," the champion admitted, adjusting her position so she wasn't slouching so much.

A moment of silence settled after Lyra's agreement and Karen walked closer to scan the files that the younger girl had been studying. She spoke as she skimmed the text, a small smile on her face. "I heard about your little crusade from Lance. Are you trying to find Red now?"

""Trying' being the key word there," she nodded, sighing. "I haven't been very successful at all."

"Well, I think it's a noble endeavor," Karen responded, looking up from the reading she had finished. "Although I think you may be looking in the wrong place. I would check with the League on some other records. Don't you champions have to notify the League whenever you go out somewhere? Know the League and their meticulousness, I'll bet they still have some of Red's information. Knowing where Red went while he was champion could at least give you a few ideas, right?"

Lyra was dumbfounded. "Karen. You are a genius! Or I'm an idiot! I don't know which, but that's a great idea."

"I'll go with 'I'm a genius', if it's all the same to you," the dark-type trainer commented, starting to walk away. "You're welcome, Kotone."

"Yes!" Lyra pumped her fist with newfound determination. "Thanks, Karen! You're the best!"

* * *

She wasn't able to actually obtain the information until the next afternoon, as the woman she had talked to at the League office had to dig up these records from six years ago. In the meantime, Lyra had been pulling her hair out in frustration at the lack of people she had to talk to about her investigation. Silver had left the day before for a tournament or something, Ethan was swamped getting prepared for Professor Elm's departure and couldn't talk on the phone (actually going to New Bark again would mean that she wouldn't be close at hand when they finally found the information), Lance was still gone, and Karen was not one that took well to babbling (neither did Silver, but that was besides the point and information that by no means changed Lyra's attitude around him). In fact, she tried to call Silver and was not surprised when he hung up after about a minute of her talking.

She was just surprised that she had got him to pick up.

So she ended up playing a game of wall ball with Cav for the majority of the morning and afternoon. That counted as training, right? She was just too anxious to do anything else, although she hadn't trained since the day that everyone had come for dinner, which was… three days ago. That wasn't too bad.

She sighed heavily. Lance was going to kick her butt when he got back. She had been productive in all the wrong ways.

Finally, they called her with success and she rushed to the offices, Cav making an effort just to keep up with her.

"We managed to dig up some information, but it's only partial," the woman told her, but the Johto champion was already taking the file they had copied for her and walking out the door.

"Thank you so much!"

* * *

After studying the information with an intensity that she did not know that she had (it had always been Kris that was a natural whiz at school, not her), she knew where she had to go next.

Yet, it still presented a problem. As champion, she could not simply waltz out and visit where ever she wanted. This was a bit farther than Pallet Town.

The champion mused while petting Sasha, who was currently occupying her lap.

"What to do, baby girl," she muttered to the psychic type. "Oh, what to do."

She only got a purr in return, but she had kind of expected that. Sasha was not the most helpful when she was getting what she wanted (which, currently, was attention). But, of course, Lyra knew all about bribery to persuade Sasha that training was actually important. That's what she got for raising a diva. But her mind quickly turned toward the problem at hand as she gazed once more over the files she had obtained.

She wondered why Red showed such an interest in Celestial Town of the Sinnoh region.

There was planning to do.

* * *

**1) I'm excited to add Kris in and I have a really great plan for her. Which involves an Ethan, Silver, and Kris love triangle. Aw, dang... **

**2) KAREN! I love Karen. Although her Houndoom was a bitch to defeat in HeartGold. I had a good water type too, but she would use Nasty Plot a few times and then own me. Gosh darn it… I'll never be a pokemon master. **

**3) Next chapter is full of both Lance and Steven Stone. Heehee… **

**4) The section about Rose and Molly will become relevant later on. I promise. I didn't just add them in as cutesy little kids (although that is a very plausible explanation because kids are so cute). Also, as you may have noticed, I changed the age that they start their journey. Really? Ten? I changed it to fourteen, so at least they're a bit older. Although, I feel like it should be more like sixteen, but... For the purpose of the story, fourteen.**

**5) So this chapter had much fluff, but I promise that I'm building up to the plot. I always seem to do this, but I guess I really enjoy these moments of happiness/everyday life. But things will get crazy. Don't worry.**

**6) Funnily enough, I was at my brother's graduation thing today and my mom wanted something to do because it was so boring so I had jokingly suggested that she could read fanfiction on my phone. For some reason (she was just that bored), she agreed and read the first chapter of this fic. She merely commented that it was cool that Lance wore a cape and that I shouldn't use the word bastard. Oh, parents…**


	4. The Warning

It was raining the next morning.

The champion frowned at this realization as she lay curled up on her bed. Well, even if she did decide to go to Sinnoh, she certainly wasn't going today. She hated the rain. But she had nothing to do instead.

She trained in her champion room for a while, pitting her pokemon against each other in mock battles and coming up with new strategies. She wished someone was here to keep her sane right now, but, once again, her usual partners (Lance and Silver) were busy and the Elite Four members had to keep their pokemon healed and ready for any challengers. Word was that there was a kid from Cherrygrove that just wouldn't quit, so he'd been making it difficult for everyone.

After a bit of light training, she decided to take her pokemon for a quick check-up at the center. She returned the rest of her pokemon inside their pokeballs and had Cav trail behind. She was just passing the lobby when-

"Lance…" The girl paused as she almost walked by the dragon master who was sitting in the lobby. "And Steven!" Her face brightened considerably at the sight of the former Hoenn champion, who met her smile with a crooked one of his own.

"Lyra," he answered pleasantly. "How have you been?"

"Good…" Her voice trailed off as she gave the two of them an once-over. Not only did they look rather soaked from the rain outside, but also were pretty beat up. Both were in clothing that was fairly low-key for them (meaning that Steven didn't have a suit and tie and Lance was without his cape), which meant that it was a mission in which they did not wish to be immediately recognized. " You guys… Wouldn't happen to be waiting for the Pokemon Center, would you?"

"Yes," Lance answered, wincing a tiny bit. He then pointed to his upper arm, which was covered in dried blood and still oozing more. "Patch me up later?"

"Well, that looks pleasant," she made a face and there was a touch of exasperation in her voice when she spoke again. "Was it Groudon and Kyogre again?"

"Hush about this," the red-head warned her, glancing around the lobby to make sure no one heard. "This is G'men business. Very important and secretive, you know."

"It was Rayquaza this time," Steven offered casually, shrugging, destroying any illusions of secrecy that Lance might be constructing. Lance, upon hearing this, sighed, as it meant that he could, indeed, speak freely about this and that he had some explaining to do.

"Another one of your theories?" She asked neutrally, keeping the critical tone from her voice, yet implying it anyway.

"Yup."

"Any success this time?"

Steven made a contemplative face. "That depends on your definition of success."

She turned to Lance, giving him a disapproving look. "Are Ryo and Mach okay?" Ryo was Lance's dragonite and Mach was Steven's metagross. The both of them were Lance and Steven's first line of defense and their most trusted partners.

"They should be fine," Steven answered, leaning back in his plush lobby chair. "They're getting healed up in the center."

"Alright, then come with me, dragon boy," Lyra sighed, motioning for the Kanto champion, who slowly rose, gritting his teeth at the strain. He glanced back at Steven, who appeared to look right at home.

"I'll catch up with you later?"

Steven stretched, yawning, even though it was noon by now. "Well, I'm not planning on leaving until I get some rest, so, yeah. I'll get Ryo and Mach and meet you at your place in ten."

"Thanks."

Steven settled in his chair, closing his eyes briefly to rest his eyes. It was at that exact moment that his phone chose to vibrate. He pulled it out of his pocket, squinting with one eye to read the text that he had gotten.

He sighed, closing his eyes again and muttering to himself. "Well, I'll save that problem for later."

* * *

At Lyra's place, Lance was proving himself to be quite sensitive to Lyra's ministrations.

"Ow," he muttered as she pulled the bandage around his arm a bit tighter. "That hurts."

"Big baby," she giggled, but her hands seemed to work lighter anyway. Smoothing out the bandage on his arm, she bit her lip, deciding to see what information she could get out of him. "So… What happened?"

A sheepish smile passed over the Kanto champion's face. "We were investigating the possible abilities of Rayquaza when we seemed to disturb the very creature we were studying. Yeah. That went well."

"Sounds like one of your usual escapades," the girl grinned, glad that it wasn't anything more serious. Deciding to look around to see if he was hurt anywhere else, she prodded his side experimentally, unprepared for the reaction that she got.

"Ah, oh," Lance groaned, shying away from her. "What'd you do that for?"

"Dude, that might be a bruised rib there," the Johto champion answered, crossing her arms. "Now will you please stop messing with legendary pokemon? You're cutting your lifespan in half doing this."

The dragon master grimaced. Lyra didn't dish out disapproval like this very often and, when she did, it was hard to ignore it. "I suppose that you do have a point. I guess some aspects of nature shouldn't be messed with."

She paused, crossed arms loosening. "Nature. Legendary pokemon."

He could see the wheels turning in her head and he stared at her curiously. "Ly? What are you thinking about?"

She turned away toward the window and he could see her lift her hand up to bite her nail. "Nothing. Now, listen, I've been thinking and I really want to go to Sinnoh."

"Did you get some kind of lead there?"

She nodded, mind obviously still processing.

"Well, you know that Steven's birthday thing is only a few days away, so maybe this investigation could wait until after that," Lance suggested carefully, trying to read Lyra's feelings on all this. How serious was she on getting to the bottom of this?

The girl nodded, hand falling back to her side. "Of course. I wouldn't miss Steven's party. But I want to go."

"Okay."

"I talked with Ethan about all this while you were gone and I think I know what I want to do about all this finally."

"And that is?"

"I want them to live again. I want them to honor Leaf's sacrifice instead of-"

"Wait, her sacrifice? Where are you getting all this, Ly? What have you found out?"

She paused, still not looking at him, hands tapping at the windowsill as she stared out at the rain that was still falling. "Nothing, Lance. I have proof of nothing. It's just gut instinct right now."

"Just give it time," he answered, leaning forward in his chair and deciding not to push her about it. He had his own theory about what happened anyway, which was mainly why he didn't want Lyra getting involved in it all. "You'll get answers."

_And then he flashed back to memories of his own, when Red had asked questions without answers and Lance had seen a cynical boy that he didn't recognize. _

That wouldn't happen to her. He wouldn't let it. She was the one that he would protect. She would never end up disillusioned like Red and Steven. Like he sometimes wondered if he was.

"Lance?"

He broke from his thoughts to see her questioning face. "Why don't you go change and get out of those clothes before you get sick? And help out Steven. From what I heard, he's pretty eager to sleep. Oh, and-" he paused from his slow movement of standing up, "will you and Steven be back in an hour for Silver's match? He's in the finals of the Sinnoh Grand Cup and they're televising the match. I was going to watch him kick the kid's ass."

He nodded, getting up from the chair. "Yeah, I'll come back, although I assume Steven will want to rest. And thanks for cleaning me up."

"Anytime," she smiled, but her mind was obviously still elsewhere. "I'll talk to you later."

He left, the thought still nagging him that this was going to end up bad for her. There were so many things that he had to shelter her from that he didn't know what to do.

_He still remembered seeing her tame the Red Gyarados at Lake of Rage. He had never seen a girl more precocious or fearless, nonetheless one that drew that courage from her complete and utter trust in her pokemon. As she faced the gyarados on the back of her comparatively small quagsire, he wondered if perhaps she was the next champion. _

_This one wouldn't turn out like Red. Not when there was something that he could do about it._

_Lyra would be Lance's to protect, whether she wanted it or not. _

* * *

"So, I guess you want to crash on my couch."

Steven Stone was already sprawled on said piece of furniture, soaked clothes and all. He nodded, looking half-asleep already.

Lance ran a hand through his wet hair, shaking off raindrops. "Really,dude? You can't even change first?"

Steven grinned wryly, eyes still closed. "I was kinda assuming that I could do whatever I wanted, seeing as you'll probably be down the hall the entire night anyway."

The Kanto champion groaned, rolling his eyes. "Really, Steven? This again?"

"She's totally got a thing for you, Lance," the Hoenn ex-champion sighed, stretching out further.

"Please," Lance retorted, eyes scanning his quarters to make sure everything was a he left it. "I'm much too old for her. I'm practically an old man." His age was the most handy reason he could think of to deflect Steven's seemingly innocent accusations.

Steven was grinning again as he was still half-asleep. "Seven years? You're right. That's ages. And if that's how you're gonna be, then fine." He then adopted a much more serious tone, much to Lance's relief. "How much did you tell her about our little encounter?"

"Virtually nothing," Lance replied, walking into the kitchen to get food. "We don't really know anything, so what is there to tell?"

Steven opened one eye, squinting toward his friend who he could hear rummaging around, as only a counter and fifteen feet separated Steven's couch of choice and Lance's refrigerator (a fact that pleased Steven immensely when he stayed here). "How about the fact that Team Magma and Team Aqua are back, but they're just lying low? We haven't seen hide nor hair of them for three years, we get one whisper of information, we mess with Raquaza, and they only intervene when they're forced to. They're back, but they're not doing anything. Almost as if they're lying in wait. They're obviously planning something. That and the fact that Unova is practically falling apart spells trouble for everyone. You don't find any part of that alarming?"

Lance shrugged from where he was in the kitchen. "She's got enough going on right now. She doesn't need to worry about this too. You and I can take care of it."

Steven sat up, eyes fully open and face twisted in a contemplative expression. "So you guys do have something going on."

The closest thing to the dragon master's hand was promptly flung over the counter and towards Steven. A bag of sliced bread hit Steven Stone right in the face. "Good shot, my friend," the Hoenn native held up the bread, gazing at it objectively. "You keep your bread in the fridge?"

"Yeah, I don't know how that happened."

After a moment's thought, Steven continued. "Hey. Do you happen to have any peanut butter?"

"Yeah, but you're making your own sandwich," Lance answered amicably, apparently having already gotten over Steven's earlier comment.

The steel-type trainer sighed. "Fine."

He got up and ambled into the kitchen, rummaging through the cabinet. "Seriously, though. We do have to talk about this. The good guys don't always win like in your idealistic world."

"Ever the practical one, Stone," the dragon master grinned. "And I'd like to test that theory."

He shot his friend a look. "Well, at least Lyra is distracted with this whole 'Pallet Trio' thing. If you want us to take care of everything without her involvement, that should make it easier. Although I don't think that she'll thank you for keeping her in the dark."

Lance scowled as his friend grabbed a knife to spread the peanut butter. "I'm not 'keeping her in the dark'. Don't act all cynical like that. I just think that she did her part when she single-handedly disposed of Team Rocket four years ago. She doesn't need to know all this."

"I just don't know if she'll see it that way. She's a champion and she'll feel bad if she's not keeping an eye on her region."

"That's what she's got me for," the Kanto champion retorted, then explained at the doubtful look on his friend's face. "She's not like that, Steven. She doesn't get angry. She just gets frustrated and I'm willing to risk that. She can be frustrated with me, as long as she's not in danger."

Steven looked up from his sandwich-making. "Dude. She seemed pretty concerned today. This may be more important to her than you think. And," he paused, motioning at his friend with the butter knife. "You better hope she doesn't ask you about the Pallet Trio. I know that you know more than you're telling."

"She'll find the answers on her own."

The steel-type trainer shrugged, putting together the two sides of bread of his sandwich. "Okay. If you're sure. I just think that your habit of trying to control everything is gonna get you into trouble on this one."

"Stone. I don't need your admonishment either," he snapped, not feeling hungry all of a sudden, even though he had taken out a can of soup to heat up. Arceus, he hated being judged above all else. He then sighed, trying to take out some of his previous aggression. "I'm gonna go shower. I'll be back in a few."

Steven decided that perhaps he had been a little too harsh. Lance had a lot on his mind, obviously. And although his friend often acted and claimed to be an idealist, Steven wondered if perhaps he had some doubt that plagued him. Perhaps practicality did have some hold on him. The day that Lance Wataru became a pragmatist would be a sad day indeed.

So much drama and Steven hadn't even told him about Cynthia's news. Well, she did say that she was taking care of it. He took a bite of his finished peanut butter sandwich. He'd save that for later.

* * *

When Silver arrived at the stadium for the championship match of Sinnoh's biggest tournament of the year, he immediately noticed that things were different.

For one, security was rather high. It was hardly subtle, but then, Silver supposed that he was quicker than the average bystander at noticing such things. Tournament security was at every entrance to check people in and many seemed present just to observe. Of course, some of this was protocol, but the former champion of Sinnoh being present was not, as he caught a glance of her in the stands as he walked past one of the entrances on the way to where he was supposed to enter the stadium.

Cynthia Shirona. Former champion of Sinnoh and key G-men member of the region. Ex-girlfriend of Steven Stone and one of Lyra's revered idols. Oh, Silver was familiar with Cynthia Shirona and he wanted nothing to do with her. There were way too many people that would be pissed at him if he was rude to her and Silver not being rude was asking for a lot. Still, she had a presence that drew his eye to her, even if only to question why she was here.

With all the obvious lack of subtlety, he wondered if perhaps such a show was intended to scare off any potential threats. He mused his way through various possibilities until he reached where he would be walking onto the battlefield, at which point, he began to put his game face on. Unlike Lyra, he was not the kind to research his opponents or watch the other matches of the tournament. In fact, he wasn't even sure who he was facing, but, to him, it didn't matter one bit. He was the same caliber as any of the champions of the League and usually dominated most of the tournaments he entered. This would just be another one in the bag.

Glancing at his clock, he saw that he had about a minute to spare-

And then the door opened in front of him and a tournament official ushered him onto the field, which made him curse his own inability to set his watch accurately. It was so vexing.

And, yet, he still wondered why Lyra always told him not to let the little things get to him.

Striding onto the tournament field, he reveled in the adrenaline rush that accompanied entering such a large stadium. It didn't matter what people thought of him, they only wanted to see a good battle. And he always gave them that, albeit the harsh and merciless way that he did it (which, as Lyra informed him, was much milder that it used to be).

Silver ran a hand across the line of pokeballs on his belt as he pondered which pokemon to send out first, which he had been debating for the last hour. He supposed that Gengar would be the first one, mostly because of his ability to perform spectacularly very soon into the match. Gengar was always ready to own whoever he was put up against. Silver had grabbed Gengar's pokeball when he finally looked up to see who was facing.

His blood ran cold.

Everything seemed frozen in time for a brief moment as he stared across the battlefield to meet the stone cold eyes of the enemy that he thought he had escaped and then, all of a sudden, it sped up again and Silver felt as if he could hardly keep up with what was going on around him.

He had missed them announcing his name, but he heard his challenger's name.

"- and there's Ben Walker from Johto on the opposing side, whose impressive victories have made quite a buzz about his chances as a dark horse challenger."

Silver's eyes narrowed as he studied the situation around him, not having lost that much of his nerve as to be unable to reason. A fake name. Silver's opponent was up to no good, he could tell that much, and the red-headed trainer wondered if this was the reason that security was so tight. But, if they already knew, then why would they let him compete? It didn't make sense. None of this made sense and Silver wanted out. Right now. But he couldn't lose face like that and just walk away, so he tried to compose himself. He had to pull himself together.

He instead studied his opponent once more, although already knowing what he was going to find. The bastard had that same icy, composed front as he always did and the kind of looks that had women fawning over him, although he never seemed to care. Zeke was never the kind to show too much emotion, while Silver seemed to be all about the anger that motivated every single one of his actions.

And yet it comes down to this yet again. The irony of the entire situation was not lost on Silver as he remembered all the times that they had competed, with this same kind of tension in the air. The face-off and the silent challenges that never had to be spoken, only understood. He wondered what pokemon Zeke had now, but realized that, by Silver's own arrogance, Zeke knew everything about him and Silver knew nothing about Zeke. Nothing recent, at least.

The two trainers locked eyes for a moment and, to Silver, all the progress and growth over the last four years hung in the balance- in the no man's land that lie between him and his rival for as long as he could remember.

"And the battle begins!"

Both trainers had their chosen pokeball clenched in their hand as the flag to start the match went down and Silver hesitated, that split second giving the impression to his opponent that he was uncertain.

"Go, Rhydon." Zeke called out, voice icy.

"Gengar. Let's go."

Elsewhere, a certain champion worried.

* * *

"Lance, get in here!"

"Hold on, Lyra!"

"No, I mean now. This doesn't look good."

The dragon master stuck his head in the door to the living room, expression curious. "What are you talking about?"

"I mean quit finding something to eat in my fridge and actually get in here. Silver's battle doesn't look good."

The commands that Lyra were issuing were only stemming from her extreme anxiety at the moment, an anxiety that apparently was not unwarranted, as were a large majority of her worries. He had been hoping to heat up some leftovers in Lyra's fridge, since both he and Steven really only had the culinary skills of making food that came premade from a can or package. Despite their bachelor status, neither of them had really ever bothered to learn how to feed themselves.

But, for now, he took a seat in one of Lyra's armchairs and watched the battle. Silver seemed to be using his gengar (a tricky little bugger, as always) and was facing off against a rhydon that looked more than capable.

"Who is that?" Lance pointed out, curious at who Silver's challenger was. "He's worrying Silver right now? I've never even seen him before."

"Shhhh," Lyra hushed him, already leaned forward with her eyes trained on the television screen. "Just watch what's going on."

Although he hated being hushed, Lance nonetheless obliged and immediately started feeling as if he wanted to knock his head against the wall. He watched as Silver made Gengar move into an aggressive close quarters attack with Focus Blast. "Why's he doing that?" Lance muttered in exasperation, voice strained. "I worked on him with that before he left. With the mediocre trainers he has been facing, aggressive attacks like that work, but it leaves his pokemon unguarded and open to a counterattack."

"I know!" Lyra answered, eyes still glued to the battle. "He's battling so recklessly. It's like he's reverted back to rookie Silver or something."

Lance shook his head. "He keeps this up and he's gonna lose this match for sure."

And, in the end, Lance's words proved most prophetic.

And, as champions, both Lyra and Lance separately wondered if they should be worried.

* * *

**1) So, there's a little bit of the overall plot developing here with trouble mentioned in Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Unova. Also, little bit of subplot for Silver with his blast from the past. **

**2) I know! I'm taking a long time for the main plot to come out! I want to write some action NOW! But, I have some things to take care of first, unfortunately.**

**3) Yes. This fic will be Steven/Cynthia. What can I say? I shlike them.**

**That's all for now!**


End file.
